Kvyat flies to maiden GP3 pole in MonzaMW Arden’s Daniil Kvyat set a lap time of 1:36.933 to achieve his debut pole in the category and finish over half a second quicker over his nearest rival, teammate Robert Visoiu. The Romanian driver will join Kvyat on the front row in his best qualifying of the season with title contender Tio Ellinas (Marussia Manor Racing) heading the second row in P3. Kvyat’s flier was over seven seconds faster than the 2012 pole time set with the previous generation car.

The 30 minute session was filled with anticipation with four vital points up for grabs in the chase for the elusive GP3 crown. Another hot day greeted the 27 drivers as they lined up, eager to be in contention for pole position. Carlos Sainz and Lewis Williamson led the way with the Spaniard first to lap in the 1m37’s early on.

Kvyat demoted his teammate to take provisional pole, again showing good pace after topping yesterday’s Free Practice session. At the midway point, most drivers returned to the pits for new rubber and make set-up changes. The Russian driver was busy lighting up the timing screen as he lapped in the 1m36’s to set the target to his competitors by a large margin of half a second.

Ellinas was one of the big movers in the final minutes, shooting up to P3 behind Kvyat and Visoiu. Carlin’s Nick Yelloly in P5 was also trying to improve but ran wide over the curbs which sent his car into a spin and a premature halt to his session. His teammate Alexander Sims also had an excursion into the gravel, whilst home favorite David Fumanelli (Trident) stopped at Turn 2 which was covered by yellow flags.

At the checkered flag, Kvyat enjoyed his maiden pole with his teammate Visoiu in tow. Ellinas can concentrate on reclaiming his lead in the GP3 title proceedings with a strong qualifying in third ahead of Sims, Yelloly, Sainz, Conor Daly, Series leader Facu Regalia, Kevin Korjus and Williamson.

Action is guaranteed in Race 1, which starts at 17.20 CET later today as the quest for the GP3 title rises another notch…

Lineup

Pos

Driver

Team

Time

Laps

1.

Daniil Kvyat

MW Arden

1:36.933

14

2.

Robert Visoiu

MW Arden

1:37.444

15

3.

Tio Ellinas

Marussia Manor Racing

1:37.526

14

4.

Alexander Sims

Carlin

1:37.580

13

5.

Nick Yelloly

Carlin

1:37.602

12

6.

Carlos Sainz

MW Arden

1:37.619

15

7.

Conor Daly

ART Grand Prix

1:37.708

11

8.

Facu Regalia

ART Grand Prix

1:37.715

11

9.

Kevin Korjus

Koiranen GP

1:37.723

13

10.

Lewis Williamson

Bamboo Engineering

1:37.942

12

11.

Dino Zamparelli

Marussia Manor Racing

1:37.991

14

12.

Jack Harvey

ART Grand Prix

1:38.111

11

13.

Patric Niederhauser

Jenzer Motorsport

1:38.113

13

14.

Adderly Fong

Status Grand Prix

1:38.141

14

15.

Patrick Kujala

Koiranen GP

1:38.388

13

16.

Giovanni Venturini

Trident

1:38.419

15

17.

Melville McKee

Bamboo Engineering

1:38.450

12

18.

Luis Sa Silva

Carlin

1:38.495

14

19.

Alex Fontana

Jenzer Motorsport

1:38.522

12

20.

David Fumanelli

Trident

1:38.566

12

21.

Aaro Vainio*

Koiranen GP

1:38.606

13

22.

Jimmy Eriksson

Status Grand Prix

1:38.615

14

23.

Josh Webster

Status Grand Prix

1:38.660

13

24.

Emanuele Zonzini

Trident

1:38.934

14

25.

Ryan Cullen

Marussia Manor Racing

1:39.312

13

26.

Samin Gomez

Jenzer Motorsport

1:39.474

13

27.

Carmen Jorda**

Bamboo Engineering

1:40.218

14

*Vainio has a 5 place grid penalty following an incident in Spa Race 2.**Jorda has a 10 place grid penalty following Free Practice in Monza

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